Write Forever: Samoa Joe brought death to Death Riders on AEW Dynamite for April 16

April 16, 2025

Last night I watched Titanic for the first time ever. Tonight, Dynamite becomes the longest-running wrestling show on a Turner network. Two equally momentous events!

Tonight on Dynamite we'll get the long-awaited Mercedes Moné vs Athena match in The Owen. Athena coming to AEW TV after being ROH's Forever Champ for... well... ever has been fantastic. Slotting her into a feud with Mercedes immediately has been even better.

The Trios Titles are on the line with substitutions and omissions all around; Jon Moxley will take the place of the injured PAC and Hook, now missing in action, is out of the match leaving us with a 3-on-2 title match in favor of Death Riders.

Konosuke Takeshita and Will Ospreay face off in further Owen Hart Cup action, and we finally find out who the wild card is against "Hangman" Adam Page.

Plus, The Gates of Agony challenge The Hurt People for the Tag Team Titles which should be fun in a "huge dudes hitting each other hard" kind of way, and I'm sure we'll get some kind of next step in the ongoing MVP/MJF saga.

It feels like a big night for Dynamite, so let's get into it!

Instant classics in The Owen

Was it a surprise? No. Did it somehow exceed expectations while still leaving a lot on the table for future matches? Absolutely. Mercedes Moné vs Athena kicked off the show in excellent fashion going 20+ minutes in the semi-finals of The Owen Hart Cup tournament.

I was taken aback when they announced the tournament and saw Mercedes and Athena on the same side of the brackets. With the story building they've been doing, I imagined we'd see the two of them in the finals. Instead, we got a Mercedes win leading to her facing the winner of Kris Statlander and Jamie Hayter.

And what becomes of Athena? I don't think she's done with Mercedes. I initially thought we'd see her play a part in the outcome of the tournament finals in some way, but I've been waffling back and forth on what I think the World Title match will be at All In. The big money is on Toni Storm vs Mercedes, but that leaves Athena out in the cold on a huge show in her home state. I'll happily wait and see on this one.

In another tournament match, the wild card was revealed to be the debuting Josh Alexander. Ole Hanger wouldn't be denied, though, sneaking a win with a small package after an excellent match. This was a great first showing for Alexander who had a lot of crowd support to counter Hangman throughout the entirety of the match.

Post-match, Don Callis and Kyle Fletcher came out to cause bad boy trouble and after Hangman disposed of Fletcher, Alexander laid Page out from behind with a big forearm. Alexander left by himself while Callis and Fletcher stood over the fallen Hangman, so maybe the jury is still out – but it certainly looks like Callis has picked up an injury replacement for Mark Davis (though Alexander has no big fat dumper).

MJF still struggles to find a balance

The ongoing MJF/Hurt People saga continued tonight with a post-match back and forth between MJF and his hopeful stablemates. He did the sleazeball thing of throwing women at the group as a way to convince them to let him join and then threw gifts, in the form of his wristwatch, at them as well.

It's always better when women aren't objectified and treated like objects, so that part of the segment felt a bit out of place in AEW where this sort of stuff doesn't typically happen. But, the stuff that typically doesn't happen in AEW typically does happen in MJF segments.

At least nobody called them derogatory names, as MJF is often want to do, so that's progress? I don't know.

The segment felt like it dragged forever, which turned out to be 8 minutes or so. They could have done the same thing in about half the time. It's not like they lost the crowd or anything, but watching on TV it just felt like it kept going and going and going.

Later on, The Hurt People seemed to sort of agree to let MJF into the group with the caveat that Lashley would hurt him (and MVP would eject him) if he proved to be more trouble than he's worth.

In a match that could have been a main event on any PPV of the year, Will Ospreay defeated Konosuke Takeshita to lock in as a finalist in the men's Owen Hart Cup. There's not much more you can say other than what a fucking match. Ospreay seems poised to be the guy to take the World Title from Jon Moxley (please let it all end at All In) and Takeshita is so easily a main event/World Title guy alongside him that it isn't even funny.

Ospreay has a lot of fuel in the tank for career-feuds with Kyle Fletcher, Mark Davis, Takeshita, and even non-Callis guys like Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, and a more seasoned Kevin Knight down the road. Aside from Omega and Okada (who are closer to the ends of their careers than the beginnings), these guys are who the future of AEW should be built upon.

If Ospreay becomes World Champ, it opens up an entirely new world of possible challengers – and while some of those challengers may be repeat opponents, they will be fresh main event match-ups. Do the needful, Tony Khan. Get that god damn belt off of Jon Moxley.

The beginning of the end of Death Riders

Well, they did it. They finally fucking did it!

When The Opps (awful name) became the team who was setting their sights on Death Riders, it felt like it was finally time to shake things up and move the Trios Titles out of the death grip of Death Riders. But then, it all started to go wrong.

PAC got injured, meaning he would be replaced in the Trios Title match by World Champion Jon Moxley. At that point, I started to doubt that they'd actually drop the belts without PAC being involved.

Then, it was announced at the start of Dynamite that Hook would no longer be in the match due to an undisclosed medical issue so it would be 3-on-2 in favor of Death Riders. I quickly felt the positive feelings begin to slip even further.

The surprises didn't end there, though. After The Opps made their entrance (awful theme), they paused at the entrance. Why? To allow their replacement for Hook, Powerhouse Hobbs, to make his entrance. The good feelings began to rise again.

I didn't think there was any way this match could live up to the match that came before it (Ospreay/Takeshita) and it didn't from a technical standpoint, but from a "being fun to watch" standpoint? Yes, it absolutely did.

Things started fast and didn't slow down much the length of the match. The Opps seemed to have things in fairly firm control until those dastardly Young Bucks made their way to the ring. The Bucks, eager to impress Death Riders, sauntered around the ring and began to gather chairs to presumably help Death Riders retain their belts.

Honestly, I just felt deflated when the Bucks came out because I've become so used to Death Riders interference bullshit that it just felt unfun and annoying – and not in a "the booking got me!" kind of way.

But then, out of the crowd, Swerve Strickland laid waste to Matthew & Nicholas with a Swerve Stomp and a couple of tosses into the crowd. The booking got me!

As Mox wound up to use another chair, Willow Nightingale appeared to rip it away from him and flip him the bird to raucous applause.

With the match descending into madness all around, Joe countered Mox's attempt at the Death Rider DDT into the Coquina Clutch forcing a referee stoppage for the submission win giving us brand new Trios Champions!

Lead by Will Ospreay, a chunk of the locker room entered the ring to celebrate with The Opps (and Hobbs). This felt like the feel-good moment of Lex Luger defeating Hollywood Hogan for the World Title on Nitro all those years ago, and I hope the feeling lasts longer this time around.

I do wonder about Hook, though. I'm not sure what kept him out tonight but I'll be curious to see how they spin this down the road. Is Hobbs officially an Opp now? Will Hook have any ill will toward Joe or Shibata after effectively being replaced by Hobbs? Or am I just injecting 40 years of standard wrestling bullshit into a story that may not even be a story at all?

I could see Hook turning on The Opps and replacing PAC (for now) in Death Riders to regain the Trios Titles, which wouldn't be my favorite thing in the world – but, at least for tonight, it felt good to finally see Death Riders fall.

Wrapping Up

The Hurt Syndicate had a fun match with The Gates of Agony for the Tag Team Titles, retaining the belts in a non-surprising outcome. I like The Gates a lot and they've approved a ton since they started here in AEW. I almost always enjoy them when they pop up; Toa Leona is still a little rough around the edges but Bishop Kaun more than makes up for it. I'd love to see them become more of a fixture on the show.

The main event felt like a turning point, though I'm sure Death Riders will find a way to get the Trios Titles back sooner than later from the ramshackle group of The Opps + Will Hobbs. I've gotten so used to Death Riders interference sucking all of the wind out of main events that I felt the same suck when The Young Bucks appeared.

A fool I was, though. The schmozz of all schmozzes occurred but this time the good guys came out on top. The pops for Willow, Swerve, and the eventual victory all felt so cathartic. Great fucking show, great fucking main event, incredible goofball stuff that worked out this time. Hell of an ending.

Best AEW Matches of 2025

Don't see a match on the list? It's not because I didn't see the match, but because I didn't do a write-up for that show for whatever reason (timing, schedules, etc.). This list is as comprehensive as it can be.

I've also decided to omit squashes from the list since they're just going to crowd space at the bottom.

Toni Storm vs Mariah May: Women's World Title (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
Swerve Strickland vs Ricochet (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
"Hangman" Adam Page vs Orange Cassidy (Dynamite: January 1, 2025)
Swerve Strickland vs Ricochet (Dynamite: February 5, 2025)
Daniel Garcia vs Mark Briscoe: TNT Title (Collision: January 4, 2025)
Konosuke Takeshita vs Orange Cassidy: International Title (Dynamite: February 26, 2025)
Mercedes Moné vs Momo Watanabe: TBS Title (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
Will Ospreay vs Kyle Fletcher (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
Toni Storm vs Megan Bayne: World Title (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
Mark Briscoe vs Kyle Fletcher (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
Will Ospreay vs Konosuke Takeshita (Dynamite: April 16, 2025)
Kenny Omega vs Ricochet vs Mike Bailey: International Title (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
MJF vs "Hangman" Adam Page (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
Mercedes Moné vs Athena (Dynamite: April 16, 2025)
Death Riders vs Rated FTR: Trios Titles (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
Will Ospreay vs Kevin Knight (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
"Hangman" Adam Page vs Kyle Fletcher (Dynamite: April 30, 2025)
Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight vs The Young Bucks (Dynamite: April 23, 2025)
Konosuke Takeshita vs Kenny Omega: International Title (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
"Hangman" Adam Page vs Josh Alexander (Dynamite: April 16, 2025)
Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, & Wheeler Yuta vs Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, & Powerhouse Hobbs: Trios Titles (Dynamite: April 16, 2025)
Will Ospreay & Brody King vs Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander (Dynamite: April 23, 2025)
FTR vs Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong (Collision: March 1, 2025)
Rated FTR vs Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, & Wheeler Yuta (Dynamite: January 1, 2025)
Roderick Strong vs Jay White vs Swerve Strickland (Dynamite: January 1, 2025)
Toni Storm vs Kris Statlander vs Willow Nightingale (Dynamite: January 8, 2025)
"Hangman" Adam Page vs Christopher Daniels: Texas Death Match (Collision: January 18, 2025)
Toni Storm vs Queen Aminata (Dynamite: February 5, 2025)
Jon Moxley vs Swerve Strickland: World Title (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
Kazuchika Okada vs Brody King: Continental Championship (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
Mark Briscoe vs Ricochet (Dynamite: April 23, 2025)
Orange Cassidy, Powerhouse Hobbs, Mark Briscoe, & Will Ospreay vs Bryan Keith, Mark Davis, Lance Archer, & Brian Cage (Dynamite: March 5, 2025)
Private Party vs The Hurt Syndicate: Tag Team Titles (Dynamite: January 22, 2025)
PAC vs Komander (Collision: January 11, 2025)
Will Ospreay vs Buddy Matthews (Dynamite: January 8, 2025)
Komander vs Nick Wayne: ROH TV Title (Collision: April 17, 2025)
Toni Storm vs Deonna Purrazzo (Collision: January 4, 2025)
Women's Casino Gauntlet (Dynamite: January 15, 2025)
Hounds of Hell vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher (Dynamite: February 5, 2025)
Bryan Keith vs Will Ospreay (Dynamite: February 26, 2025)
CRU & Nick Wayne vs Top Flight & AR Fox (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
Jon Moxley vs Powerhouse Hobbs: World Title (Dynamite: January 15, 2025)
Swerve Strickland vs AR Fox (Dynamite: January 22, 2025)
Daniel Garcia vs Adam Cole: TNT Title (Collision: March 1, 2025)
Jamie Hayter vs Kris Statlander (Dynamite: April 23, 2025)
Nick Wayne vs Jay Lethal: ROH TV Title (Dynamite: April 30, 2025)
Will Ospreay, Kevin Knight, Mike Bailey, & Mark Briscoe vs CRU, The Beast Mortos, & Ricochet (Dynamite: April 9, 2025)
FTR vs Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta: Mid-South Street Fight (Collision: February 1, 2025)
Jamie Hayter vs Julia Hart (Dynamite: January 22, 2025)
Toni Storm vs Queen Aminata (Collision: April 26, 2025)
Cope vs PAC (Dynamite: January 22, 2025)
Jamie Hayter vs Julia Hart (Dynamite: January 1, 2025)
Will Ospreay vs Mark Davis (Dynamite: February 5, 2025)
Kenny Omega, Mark Briscoe, Mike Bailey, & Kevin Knight vs Kazuchika Okada, Ricochet, & THe Young Bucks (Dynamite: April 30, 2025)
Toni Storm vs Miyu Yamashita (Dynamite: April 30, 2025)
Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander vs Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii (Collision: April 17, 2025)
The Hurt Syndicate vs The Gates of Agony: Tag Team Titles (Dynamite: April 16, 2025)
The Beast Mortos vs Mike Bailey (Dynamite: March 12, 2025)
Toni Storm & Thunder Rosa vs Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford (Dynamite: March 26, 2025)
Kazuchika Okada & Ricochet vs Brody King & Swerve Strickland (Dynamite: March 5, 2025)
Brody King vs Kyle Fletcher (Dynamite: March 26, 2025)
Lance Archer vs Kevin Knight (Collision: April 17, 2025)
Rated FTR vs The Learning Tree (Collision: January 4, 2025)
Private Party vs Lio Rush & Action Andretti: Tag Team Titles (Collision: January 4, 2025)
Mercedes Moné & Harley Cameron vs Julia Hart & Kris Statlander (Collision: April 17, 2025)
Daniel Garcia & FTR vs Undisputed Kingdom (Dynamite: February 26, 2025)
Daniel Garcia vs Katsuyori Shibata: TNT Title (Collision: January 11, 2025)
Daniel Garcia vs Kyle O'Reilly vs Lee Moriarty: TNT Title (Collision: February 1, 2025)
Bandido & Powerhouse Hobbs vs Big Bill & Bryan Keith (Collision: March 1, 2025)
Men's Casino Gauntlet Match (Dynamite: January 8, 2025)
Cope vs Big Bill (Collision: January 11, 2025)
Mariah May vs Harley Cameron (Collision: January 11, 2025)
Will Ospreay & Kevin Knight vs Blake Christian & Lee Johnson (Dynamite: April 2, 2025)
Samoa Joe & Hook vs Kip Sabian & Nick Wayne (Collision: February 1, 2025)
Swerve Strickland vs Clark Connors (Collision: March 1, 2025)
Kenny Omega vs Brian Cage (Dynamite: January 15, 2025)
Hook vs Christian Cage (Dynamite: January 15, 2025)
Julia Hart vs Queen Aminata (Collision: March 1, 2025)
Daniel Garcia vs Lee Moriarty: TNT Title (Collision: March 8, 2025)
Swerve Strickland & Willow Nightingale vs Jon Moxley & Marina Shafir (Dynamite: April 2, 2025)
Brody King vs Lance Archer (Dynamite: April 2, 2025)
Will Hobbs vs Mark Davis (Dynamite: March 26, 2025)
The Outrunners vs Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta (Collision: January 11, 2025)
Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, & Roderick Strong vs Lee Moriarty & The Infantry (Collision: January 18, 2025)
Julia Hart vs Harley Cameron (Collision: January 18, 2025)
Rated FTR, The Outrunners, & Powerhouse Hobbs vs Death Riders & The Learning Tree (Collision: January 18, 2025)
Cope vs Wheeler Yuta (Dynamite: March 5, 2025)
Mark Davis vs Mark Briscoe (Collision: March 15, 2025)
Chris Jericho vs Bandido: Mask vs ROH World Title (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
Hologram vs Dralistico (Collision: March 8, 2025)
Mark Briscoe vs Konosuke Takeshita (Dynamite: March 26, 2025)
Cash Wheeler vs PAC (Collision: April 5, 2025)
Kris Statlander vs Thunder Rosa (Dynamite: April 9, 2025)
Kenny Omega vs Blake Christian (Dynamite: March 26, 2025)
The Hurt Syndicate vs The Outrunners: Tag Team Titles (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
Max Caster vs RUSH (Collision: February 1, 2025)
Bobby Lashley vs Mark Briscoe (Dynamite: January 8, 2025)
Private Party & Mark Briscoe vs Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Lashley, & MVP (Dynamite: January 15, 2025)
Serena Deeb vs Momo Watanabe (Collision: March 8, 2025)
Orange Cassidy vs Hechicero (Dynamite: March 12, 2025)
Mercedes Moné vs Julia Hart (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii vs Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita (Collision: April 5, 2025)
Adam Cole vs Claudio Castagnoli: TNT Title (Collision: April 17, 2025)
Thunder Rosa & Kris Statlander vs Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford (Dynamite: March 5, 2025)
Kazuchika Okada vs Tomohiro Ishii: Continental Championship (Collision: January 18, 2025)
FTR vs Undisputed Kingdom (Collision: March 15, 2025)
The Outrunners vs Premier Athletes (Collision: March 8, 2025)
Adam Copeland vs Claudio Castagnoli (Dynamite: April 2, 2025)
Bandido vs Dralistico: ROH World Title (Collision: April 26, 2025)
Ricochet vs Katsuyori Shibata (Collision: March 15, 2025)
Top Flight vs CRU (Collision: April 5, 2025)
Toni Storm vs Penelope Ford (Dynamite: April 2, 2025)
Swerve Strickland vs Blake Christian (Collision: April 26, 2025)
Top Flight vs CRU: Tornado Tag Match (Collision: April 26, 2025)
Mike Bailey vs Dralistico (Collision: April 5, 2025)
Samoa Joe & Hook vs Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta (Dynamite: April 9, 2025)
Jon Moxley vs Adam Copeland: World Title (Revolution: March 9, 2025)
Mercedes Moné & Harley Cameron vs Athena & Julia Hart (Collision: April 5, 2025)
Jon Moxley vs Katsuyori Shibata (Dynamite: April 9, 2025)
Top Flight vs CRU: Tornado Tag Match (Collision: April 26, 2025)
The Hurt Syndicate vs The Learning Tree: Tag Team Titles (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
Chris Jericho vs Dax Harwood (Collision: January 11, 2025)
Thunder Rosa vs Megan Bayne (Collision: March 15, 2025)
Wheeler Yuta vs Willie Mack (Collision: March 1, 2025)
Top Flight & Hologram vs The Infantry & Lee Moriarty (Collision: March 15, 2025)
Willow Nightingale vs Penelope Ford (Dynamite: March 12, 2025)
The Acclaimed vs The Hurt Syndicate (Dynamite: January 1, 2025)
Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong vs The Infantry (Collision: March 8, 2025)
Komander vs Dante Martin vs Brian Cage vs The Beast Mortos (Collision: January 4, 2025)
Daniel Garcia vs Adam Cole: TNT Title (Dynasty: April 6, 2025)
Murder Machines vs The Outrunners (Dynamite: February 26, 2025)
The Outrunners vs Chris Jericho & Bryan Keith (Collision: February 1, 2025)
Hologram & Powerhouse Hobbs vs Brian Cage & Dralistico (Dynamite: March 12, 2025)
Taya Valkyrie vs Harley Cameron (Collision: February 1, 2025)
Deonna Purrazzo vs Harley Cameron (Dynamite: February 26, 2025)
Max Caster vs Konosuke Takeshita (Dynamite: March 12, 2025)
Murder Machines vs Top Flight (Collision: January 18, 2025)
Jeff Jarrett vs Aaron Solo (Collision: January 4, 2025)